The visiting Natomas Nighthawks’ barrage of 3-point shots in the second quarter ultimately proved too much for the Woodland High School boys’ varsity basketball team to handle, as they were defeated 71-40 Friday night.

“It was a tough one,” Wolves head coach Jay Munoz said. “Natomas are the real deal. They went to the section finals last year and still brought back a lot of guys. They are very talented, disciplined, and coached very well. Thats the level we aspire to get to in the near future.”

The Wolves (4-10, 1-3 GEL) came into their home Golden Empire League showdown against the Nighthawks (12-5, 4-0 GEL) after two straight losses to league contenders Sutter and Casa Roble. Before that, however, the team enjoyed its first league victory of the season on Jan. 7 in the league opener over Dixon by the score of 62-51.

“Our Dixon game went really well,” Munoz recalled. “It was one of our highest point totals on offense that night. We played well on defense and made our shots. If we do those two things, we will always have a chance. We played well against Sutter after only scoring four points in the first quarter. I know we lost to them and Casa Roble, but the boys are playing hard, and they are believing. We played the heavy hitters in the league to start the year, so it’s been tough.”

Natomas came into the game at the top of the league standings thanks to emphatic blowout victories over El Camino, Rio Linda, and Dixon by the scores of 68-33, 90-44, and 76-40. Other key wins for the program include a 63-53 win over Grant last week, an 80-79 win over Rocklin, and a 74-58 win over Granada.At the end of the first quarter, Natomas had built up a nine-point lead, up 21-12.

After a Joseph Cadotte basket made it 23-14, the game went into a scoring drought until there were about four minutes left in the half.

With Natomas nursing a 26-14 lead, the Wolves’ Joseph Quezada would drain a 3-pointer to cut the lead back to nine. Unfortunately for the Wolves, Natomas responded with the first of their four 3-point baskets in the quarter.

After another 3-pointer to make it 33-17, the Nighthawks stole the ball for another possesion and made another basket, forcing Munoz to call a timeout.

Natomas came out of the break, scored another basket, and then followed it up with back-to-back 3-pointers to go up 43-17.

With the game getting out of hand, Wolves big man Lincoln Twilley ended the run after drawing a hard foul inside and draining two free throws before going into the break.

To start the third, Miles Eoff then got in on the action and made a bucket to make it 47-21.

Natomas then made another 3-pointer to go up 50-21. Buckets from Eoff and Twilley, followed by a 3-point shot from the big man, made it 65-32 going into the fourth quarter.

Dylan Johns opened up the Wolves’ fourth-quarter account with a nice basket to make it 65-34. Twilley then returned to the line and made two free throws to cut the lead to 66-36. The Wolves’ Eli Rogelstad then scored his first basket of the night following a Nighthawks miss to cut the lead to 66-38 with about five minutes left in the game.

With the game all but decided, Woodland High School junior Israel Montes scored the final basket of the night to end the game at 71-40.

Up next for the Wolves will be a brutal slate of league road trips to Rio Linda and El Camino set for Tuesday and Friday, respectively, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. After that, they will remain on the road for two more games against Dixon and Sutter, set for Thursday, Jan. 30, and Friday, Jan. 31, before returning home to take on Casa Roble on Feb. 4.

“We really feel like we can win the next four games, even if they are on the road,” Munoz said. “We played a lot of games on the road this year to prepare for this brutal stretch of the schedule. We still control our playoff destiny. If we take care of the next four, we get to third place in the league and go from there. We know we have lost three in a row, but the vibes are very good at practice, and we feel very confident in ourselves.”